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Hothousing: more risk than reward?

Baby ballet. Kindergym. Swim classes for eight-week-olds. Violin tuition for three-year-olds. The list is as exhaustive as the non-stop schedule of extra-curricular activities that many 21st-century kids contend with on a weekly basis.
Intent on giving their children a head start in an increasingly competitive world, many parents subscribe to the more-is-more theory – and this is commonly known as hothousing, which is attempting to accelerate the development of children lest they get “left behind”.
But a new book, Nurturing A Healthy Mind, by Michael C. Nagel PhD, says learning windows have a very wide gap of opportunity and there isn’t any evidence to suggest that getting children to do things sooner is better.
In fact, Dr Nagel warns that trying to have children do too much too soon by performing certain tasks ...(sign-up as a member to continue reading this article)

Experienced journalist Karen Fontaine's credentials are first class. She’s been a staff journalist for both Fairfax and News Ltd, as well as a contributing columnist to Kidspot and other family-oriented magazines.